The 6-foot-4, 235-pound O'Brien, a former outside linebacker at Sacred Heart, beat the smell out of the 5-10, 197-pound Keogh, hardly a shrinking violet, in the first quarter of a 15-10 loss to Rochester before 3,558 at Mohegan Sun on Sunday night.

"We went down three goals, and that's a pretty big swing in momentum," said O'Brien, who was ejected after receiving two major penalties for roughing and fighting. "Part of it was, I felt the team was a little flat, so I was looking to be a spark to get going. I was looking for a big hit, something clean really. Then opportunity presented itself."

The loss was the third straight for New England, which started the season 2-0.

It was the second consecutive win for the three-time defending National Lacrosse League champion Knighthawks (4-3). They avenged a 17-7 loss to the Black Wolves at the Sun on Jan.10.

Cory Vitarelli and Cody Jamieson had three goals apiece to lead Rochester. Goalie Matt Vinc, like the Black Wolves and coach Blane Harrison predicted, was much better when they faced him on the second pass. Vinc had 38 saves in giving up just three more goals than he did the last time he was here. Some of his stops were simply highlight-film stuff.

"I don't think myself or our team played nearly our best the first time around," Vinc said. "It was a great to have a good game [against Buffalo on Friday] and make a couple saves early, and our defense did a great job taking away lanes. We blocked a lot of shots."

Brett Bucktooth, who had been out all season with a meniscus issue in his left knee, led the Black Wolves with four goals, but boy did he need help.

O'Brien is a defenseman, but when he came into the game, he knew his team was stuck in the mud and down 3-0 early in the first. Big forward Kevin Crowley (one goal, four assists) was shut down much of the game.

So, when Keogh slipped into Black Wolves goalie Evan Kirk (33 saves), that was more than good enough to get O'Brien going. Keogh actually started the scrapping when he got up and dropped his gloves. He also pulled O'Brien's bonnet off.

He pummeled Keogh into the ground before the referee came in and called it a wrap.

"[O'Brien's] a big kid, tough kid, it was a good fight," Keogh said. "I'll do anything to help my team, and I thought at that point I got hit and didn't know who it was. That's the way lacrosse goes and … it was a good win for us.

The Knighthawks bused into Connecticut after the game Friday, leaving Buffalo at 11 and arriving in the state at around 9 a.m., with many of the players not getting any sleep before the game. They may have been a little cranky – or not. Harrison said Keogh will mix it up with anybody.

And it was Keogh's stinging goal, his only one of the game, with 7:29 left in the third that put Rochester up 9-7. The Black Wolves would not get closer than two goals the rest of the way.

"Ah, yeah, that goal felt good," Keogh said.

This was the first of three games the Black Wolves will play in seven days. They play at Toronto on Jan 20 and return home to play Colorado on Sunday. If they don't find some offense before then, it's not going to matter what O'Brien does. The end results may very well be the same as Sunday's.

"We lose Billy early in the game, we're down a player," Harrison said. "We went with seven [offensive players] and nine [defense] and now we're down to seven and eight. That's a big deal. If we were 6-10 you could live with that, but all of a sudden you're down a defender over the course of a game. I think it wore us on a little bit, but I think we still had our chances.

Two blind, over-the-shoulder passes ending in a pretty goal by goal by Kyle Buchanan with five-tenths of a second left in the half pulled the Black Wolves to 6-6 at the break.

It was a real struggle for New England to get there, in part because of a packed-in Rochester defense which New England allowed, but in larger part because of its goalie.

Rochester took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, 8:23 into the game.

O'Brien and Keogh provided the entertainment before the Black Wolves ultimately responded with goals from Pat Saunders, Mark Cockerton who had been scratched in each of the previous four games and Bucktooth to tie the score at three.